Straight knitting machine



2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 14w ATTORNEYS F. MASAK STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINE BY mag u July 6, 1954 I Filed July 1, 1948 July 6, 1954 Filed July 1. 1948 F. MASAK STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINE llIlIl|III|I|III!IiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII|I!ll|I|l|I||IlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIlllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllll 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BY Jim 1% ATTORNEYS Patented July 6, 1954 2,682,762 STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINE Frantisek Masak, Zlin, Czechoslovakia, assignor to Svit, narodni podnik (Gottwaldov), Czechoslovakia Application July 1, 1948, Serial No. 36,533

Claims priority, application Czechoslovakia July 14, 1947 r 3 Claims. 2 l The present invention relates to straight knitting machines provided with automatically operating picot bar and patterning .point devices for producing the picot edge and a mark during the knitting of the welt of' a stocking.

In a prior single needle-bank straight knitting machine having a standard narrowing device which operates periodically in the calf portion, the

heel and the toe portion of a stocking, and a picot bar and patterning point device, which is operative during the knitting of the welt of a stocking, it has been proposed to cause the picot bar, after a pattern row or the picot edge has been prepared, to swing automatically upwards under the action of a coiled spring so as to move it, to its inactive position. V

The exact adjustment of such a coiled spring requires some attention in order to secure a uniform decrease of the speed of the picot bar in its returning movement from its active to its inactive position and to avoid a violent impact of the picot bar against the protecting device. One

or more such impacts may produce after a time such an unfavourable change in the working poof operationthe needles of the picot bar do not occupy any more their exact position overthe corresponding knitting needles. For the reasons referred to, it may also happen that the picot bar when swinging in upward direction will not reach its inactive position, so .that the picot or lace needles will come to rest outside of the protecting device and may injure the operator when the latter hangs over the .welt by hand. The just described arrangement also requires that the picot bar be swung down byhand to its active position in which it is locked by a dog clutch.

Furthermore, it has been proposed to provide in connection with a multi-needle-bank straight knitting machine an automatically operating picot bar device in which the picot bars, under the action of a tension spring, are rocked automatically downwards to their active position prior to the formation of the picot edge. But neither this arrangement provides for a uniform movement of the picot bars, and the suddenly freed sectors and by means of a lever system is adapted to move the picot bars to their active and inactive position.

As compared with these known constructions the new feature of the invention, which brings an appreciable technical advance in the art, consists in that the automatic movement of the picot bars or of the pattern narrowers to their active and inactive position is effected positively by means of a pawl and ratchet device and a transmission gearing. In this arrangement the transmission gearing is driven directly by the pawl and ratchet device. Preferably one or more members of the transmission gearing, e. g. toothed wheels, are provided in one of their end faces with a groove of spiral shape in which studs fastened on rack bars are guided in such a way as to obtain a uniform, self retarding, reversible movement of the picot bars or of the patterning points. 7 The main advantage of the use of a spiral shaped groove consists in this that both lateral walls of the groove act in both directions upon the stud of the rack bar, this provision leading to a substantial simplification of the entire driving mechanism.

By'a suitable choice of the pitch of the spiral shaped groove, it is possible to obtain any desired transmission ratio. The apparatus is capable of exact adjustment and self retardation also in the end positions. The sequence, the start and the duration of the operation of an automatically working picot bar and patterning point devices is eJg. a rotatable wing, the appropriate adjustment of .which is effected by means of a lever system from a cam on the main cam shaft, or by means of a cable section from the usual pattern drum or pattern chain.

The details of the subject matter of the invention are set out in the following description of the embodiment which is shown in the accompanying drawings, where Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of the apparatus, the partially shown picot bar being in its active position and the patterning point device in its inactive position;

Fig. 2 is an elevation showing the arrangement of a picot bar, of a patterning point device and of the normal narrowers, with their common driving means in the range of a working station (needle row) Fig. 3 is a section along the line 1-1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a plan view corresponding to Fig. 2, and

'Fig. 5 is a view showing the picot bar in the lower active position in full lines and in the upper inactive position in dotted lines.

The picot bar or comb l of known construction shown in Fig. 1 carries the points 2 and by means of brackets 3 is mounted on a rock shaft 4. As usual, each point 2 of the picot bar or comb l is positioned over each alternate knitting needle, when the picot bar is in its active position.

The shaft 4, carrying the picot bar by means of the brackets 3 which are pinned ion the said shaft, is rotatably mounted in the arms 5 of the narrowing device which moves up and down at suitable intervals. A portion of the shaft 4 is provided with gear teeth 6 co-operating with the teeth of a rack bar 1 which is guided verw tically in a suitable bearing (not shown). A stud 8 carried by the rack bar 1 engages in a groove 9 which is provided, e. g. in the shape of an Archimedean spiral, in one of the end faces of a toothed wheel Ill. The spiral shaped groove becomes broader at it end cl e to the center point of the rotating axis. The toothed Wheel 10, which is mounted rotatably in cantilever fashion in a bearing ll, meshes with the teeth of a pinion 1,2 which is mounted for free rotation on .a shaft :5 of the narrowing device. The shouldered hub of the pinion l2 carries two ratchet wheels I 4 .15 which are adapted for engagement with the respective pawls in opposite senses with respect to each other. A portion of the periphery of each ratchet wheel is not provided with teeth. A wing 16, which is mounted for free rotation on the hub of the pinion I2 between the two ratchet wheels l4 and I5, controls the engagement of either pawl I! or 18 with the teeth of the respective ratchet wheel and so determines the .sense of rotation of the ratchet wheels. The pawl I! and'the cooperating ratchet wheel I4 serve for rotating the pinion 12 in the clockwise direction while the pawl 18 and the corresponding ratchet wheel l5 serve for rotating the pinion 12. in the opposite direction. The movement of the wing may be derived from a control drum or a pattern chain (which are not shown) .or from .a control device allotted to the saidwing (also not shown). The pawls l1 and it are freely rotatable about a pivot pin .I 9 carried by a lever ill) which is mounted for rocking movement on the shaft 13 of the narrowing dev ce.

On .a pin 2] fastened to the lever 2.9 there is mounted for free rotation a draw bar 22 whose movement is derived from a cam on the main cam .shaft by means of a lever system which is not shown in the drawings. The working position of the picot bar I is determined by a single arm lever 23 which is pinned on the shaft 4 in such a way that the tooth 24 of the lever 23 bears against the end of a spring supported safety member 25 which is mounted rotatably about a pin '26 fastened in the arm 5. A spring 21 fastened to the underside of the safety member 25 bears with its free end against the bottom of a recess provided in the arm 5 and urges the free end .of the safety member 25 towards the tooth 26. The safety member 25 is provided with a notch 2.8 adapted to receive one end .of a pin 28, the other end of the pin being fastened in the bar of the narrower 3s. A stud 3| guided in the bracket 3 and bearing against beam member 32 is surrounded by a compression spring 33 the free end of which bears against thebottom of a bore provided in the hub portion 35 of the bracket 3.

A patterning point device 35, known per se and provided with one or more needles 36 for the production of marks, is mounted rigidly on a rocking shaft 31 which may be driven in part by the means used for the drive of the rock shaft 4.

The combined drive of the two devices for producing the picot edge and following thereto the marks, or vice versa, during the knitting of the welt, which drive is derived from a central position, e. g. from a pattern drum, a pattern chain or from a control device associated with the above mentioned two devices, requires in addition to the said two ratchet wheels [4 and 15 two further ratchet wheels 38 and 39 with corresponding pawls, and an enlargement of the upper part 40 of the wing l6, as it is shown in Figs. 2 to 4. The ratchet wheels 38 and 39 are keyed on the hub of the pinion 41 which is mmmtedfor free rotation on the shaft I3. The pinion 4| meshes with a gear 42 fastened on a counter-shaft 4.3, the other end of the countershaft having keyed thereon a gear 44 which meshes With a gear 45 mounted for free rotation on the shaft 13, The gear 45 co-operates with a gear 45 which is mounted in cantilever fashion in a bearing 47. A groove is formed in the end face of the gear 46 to receive a pin 48 carried .by a rack bar 49 which is guided vertically in a bearing, not shown in the drawing, and engages with teeth 50 provided on the shaft 31 whereby the patterning point device 35 with the needles 3% is moved automatically at the proper moment to its active or inactive position.

The automatic downward movement of the picot bar, which takes place in the middle of the length of the welt, into active position is effected as follows:

A cam (not shown) of the main cam shaft actuates a lever system connected to the link 22 (Fig. .1) which thus receives a reciprocating movement and causes the lever 21: and the pawls 1'1 and 1.8 to rock about the shaft I3. On the wing is being automatically turned and ad- J'usted from a control drum or a pattern chain, not shown in the drawing, the said wing it uhcovers by a portion of its upper part the teeth of the ratchet wheel l4 and at the same time covers with the other portion of its upper part the teeth of the adjacent ratchet wheel [5. In this manner enga ement of the pawl I! with the ratchet Wheel 14 is permitted while the adjacent paw-1 L8 slides in inactive position along the upper part of. the wing 16. As a consequence. the pinion 12 will be rotated in clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig; 1, and the gear 9 will be rotated in the opposite direction. Owing to the simultaneous rotation of the spiral shaped groove 9,. the stud 8 and rack bar 1 are urged towards a larger radius, i. e. in downward direction, so that the teeth 6 or" the shaft G will revolve in the clockwise direction and the bar I will be lowered thereby to its working position. Before the rotation of the shaft 4 in the clockwise direction is terminated, the safety member 25 will engage behind the tooth 24 of the rotating lever 23 and thus will lock the latter and with the same also the bar 3 in the working position. In Fig. 1 the apparatus is shown imposition upon termination of the movement just described.

Since after expiration of a certain period some play may appear in the gearing, it would be difficult to Obtain an exact adjustment of the points 2 of the ,bar I over the knitting needles. In view of this circumstance, the above described ap paratus is operated in such a way that the bar, during its downward movement, passes beyond its working position in a direction towards the interior of the machine. However, as soon as the end of the spring controlled safety member 25 has engaged behind the tooth 24 of the lever 23, the play between the stud 8 and the inner walls of the broadened spiral shaped groove 9 will enter in action upon a further rotation of the said groove and the spring 33 will force thebar I back to its working position.

For the oscillatory movement of the toothed wheel It provided with the spiral shaped groove 9, in order to return automatically the bar I to its inactive position, it is necessary that the angle of rotation of the toothed wheel I!) should be always the same, as otherwise the described apparatus may be damaged. To achieve this result the ratchet wheels I4 and I5 are not provided with teeth over their whole circumference so that as soon as the spiral shaped groove 9 has rotated through the required angle, e. g. to bring the bar to its working position, the corresponding ratchet wheel I4 is not rotated any more because the pawl cannot engage with any tooth. Owing to this arrangement it is not necessary to interrupt the feeding movement of the link 22 and the whole operation of the apparatus as above described is controlled merely by the automatic adjustment of the wing I6 for momentary engagement of one or the other of thepawls with the corresponding ratchet wheel. l

The automatic raising of the picot bar into inactive position, when the meshes have been transferred to the knitting needles, is effected as follows:

By the movement of the narrower 30 towards the middle of the needle row the pin 29, which is carried along by the narrower, is liberated due to its lateral movement from the notch 23 and presses against the free end of the safety member 25 in a downward direction so that the tooth 24 of the lever 23 becomes disengaged from the said member. The simultaneous automatic rotation of the wing It causes the teeth of the ratchet wheel I4 to be covered by one portion of the upper part of the wing while the other portion of the upper part of said wing will uncover the teeth of the adjacent ratchet wheel I5. The pawl Il begins to slide in inactive position on the upperpart of the wing I6 while the adjacent pawl I8 will engage with an anticlockwise movement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel I5. The pinion I2 will rotate counter-clockwise and the gear wheel it will rotate in the opposite direction. Due to the simultaneous rotation of the spiral shaped groove 9 in clockwise direction, the stud 8 and the rock bar 1 are raised so that the teeth 6 of the shaft 4 will rotate in counterclockwise direction and thereby the bar I will be raised to its inactive position.

The working method of the common drive, controlled from a single (central) station, for the automatic lowering and raising of the patterning point device with the marking needles 36, which operation takes place when the picot edge has been made, is similar tothe just described method for the automatic lowering and raising of the picot bar I. The method may be followed in Figures 2 to 4, and consists in this that in the inactive position of the bar I the wing I6 occupies such a position that one portion only of its broad upper part 40 (Fig. 2) uncovers the teeth of the ratchet wheel 38 or 39. The respective pawl (not shown) will engage with one of the said ratchet wheels and cause the pinion M to rotate in counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3. The cooperating gear wheel 42 with the counter-shaft 43 andthe gear wheel 44 rotate in clockwise direction. The rotary motion of the counter-shaft is transmitted over the gear wheel 45 to the gear 46 (Fig. 4) which is rotating anti-clockwise. By the simultaneous rotation of the spiral shaped groove in the toothed wheel 46, the stud 48 and rack bar 49 are urged downwards so that the teeth 50 on the shaft 3'! revolve in clockwise direction and as a consequence the bar 35 with the marking needles 36 is lowered to its active position.

The automatic raising of the bar 35 with the marking needles 36 to inactive position is similar to the lowering operation just described. For this purpose automatic adjustment of the wing I6 is required to such a position as to cause reversal of the sense of rotation of the pinion M and thus of all the co-operating members of the transmission gearing. I

The apparatus in accordance with the present -invention is not limited to the example shown and described and may be modified in various directions within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a straight knitting machine, automatically operating picot and patterning point devices for the production of a picot edge and of a mark during the operation of knitting the welt of a stocking, a pawl and ratchet mechanism comprising a link, a lever, driving pawls and ratchet wheels and associated transmission gearingadapted to be driven directly by the ratchet wheels and comprising toothed wheels provided with spiral shaped grooves and rack bars with studs carried by the latter and guided in the said grooves in such a wayas to cause the rack bars to move in a self retarding manner to and fro along their longitudinal axes so as to automatically and positively move the picot bar and the patterning points, respectively, of the said devices into active and inactive positions, and a rotatable wing for controlling the said pawl and ratchet mechanism. I

2. The straight knitting machine as set forth in claim 2, in which the said ratchet wheels are adapted to be rotated in opposite directions.

3. The straight knitting machine as set forth in claim 1, in which the spiral shaped grooves are formed as Archimedean spirals.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,109,140 Richter et a1 Feb. 22, 1938 2,190,154 Howie Feb. 13, 1940 2,266,395 Ischinger Dec. 16, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 375,426 Great Britain June 27, 1932 

